Investor's Influence Expands In Region

By David Nakamura
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 4, 2007; A01

When real estate investor Victor B. MacFarlane comes to Washington, he arrives on a personal jet, sleeps at the Four Seasons in Georgetown and does business from an office on Connecticut Avenue that is still largely empty.

MacFarlane is not from the District, and he's still getting used to the place, but make no mistake: The 56-year-old magnate from San Francisco is quickly making a name for himself in the city's hot commercial real estate market.

In January, MacFarlane, who manages $15 billion in institutional assets, purchased the D.C. United soccer franchise with a partner for $33 million. Since then, MacFarlane has teamed with Monument Realty to finance a major mixed-use project near the new Washington Nationals baseball stadium; pledged $2.5 billion to jump-start JBG Co.'s plans to redevelop 42 sites across the region; and proposed building a massive development east of the Anacostia River in the District's poorest ward.

With so many projects in the region, MacFarlane cringes when people consider him an outsider.

"If I've not demonstrated that I'm committed to the area by now, I'll never demonstrate it," said MacFarlane, who is hunting for a D.C. residence to go with the $30 million penthouse he is building atop the St. Regis Hotel in San Francisco.

Source: The Washington Post. View Article.

Back to main News and Info page.